Proving Homelessness

     Given the ridiculous hearing backlog at Social Security now -- approaching two years in much of the country -- it's crucial that homeless claimants receive the expediting that Social Security allows them. But how are we supposed to prove homelessness? You might say, "That's easy. Just get the homeless shelter to write a letter on their behalf." That's easier said than done even when we're talking about homeless shelters and most homeless people don't stay in homeless shelters. There are few homeless shelters in rural areas. Homeless shelters can be dangerous places. Most homeless people avoid them when they can. They move around between relatives and friends, never staying anywhere long. Some live in tents or shacks in the woods. How are these claimants supposed to prove their homelessness?

     At the moment, I’m asking homeless clients either to write a letter that I can send to Social Security or get someone at a homeless shelter or a relative or friend to write a letter but this doesn’t work so well. Homeless people often lack the ability to write a letter and lack people in their lives who can or will write a letter on their behalf. 

     I keep thinking there’s got to be a better way. What are other people doing? Would a form that a claimant or someone in their life could complete work?

This Is Frustrating

     Here's a message I received recently on a listserver for North Carolina Social Security attorneys, edited to remove names and locations:

I can echo ____'s experience with the SSA FO [Field Office] in _____.  The letters of representation along with my 1696s, 1695s, and 827s [apart from the 827 these are forms that Social Security needs to establish that the claimant is being represented]  routinely that I mailed to the FO would disappear into some black hole.  Taking them down to the FO for personal delivery did not work either as the security guards are not permitted to handle materials pertaining to SS benefits nor was a receptacle into which I could put correspondence readily available.  Since delivery confirmation and certified mail are rather expensive, we started faxing in addition to mailing our LOR and initial forms to the SSA FO so that we would receive a fax confirmation sheet showing that we submitted our LOR and initial forms.  Even then, the SSA FO staff there would always react like it was our fault if we called to find out if our letters of rep and initial forms were received and they could not find any record of our represent ation of our client in their system.  The addition of a reminder or "tickle" to f/u with the FO sounds like a great idea for helping to deal with this situation. 

     Note that the field offices complain when these forms are submitted more than once, saying it makes extra work for them and causes confusion, but, at least where I am, the field offices are unreliable in entering an attorney's representation documents into their system. The documents disappear for weeks or months or disappear altogether. The field offices also complain about having to take calls asking whether they've entered attorney representation into their system. When the forms disappear, the field offices always blame the attorney.

The Choo Choo Is Running Late In Chattanooga

     Here's another story about the huge backlog of people awaiting hearings on their Social Security disability claims. This one concerns Chattanooga. The backlog there is officially 19 months but that number is misleading. Social Security always averages in cases that are quickly dismissed because the claimant was late in filing the request for hearing. The real wait there is probably more like two years.

Social Security Crime Wave

     From the Miami Herald:

As the feds put the screws to South Florida criminals who steal income-tax refunds, more thieves have come up with alternative scams to rip off government benefits — most notably, from elderly Social Security recipients, according to authorities.

By tapping into a federal website, “My Social Security,” they have been able to swipe names, dates of birth and ID numbers to open online accounts and redirect retirement benefits from the victims to themselves. ...

Frisler Clairvil, 29, of Lauderdale Lakes was charged in mid-November with stealing more than 1,300 identities of Social Security recipients and redirecting more than $300,000 in benefits to himself by manipulating personal information on the “My Social Security” website from 2013 to 2015, according to an indictment. ...

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article46781585.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article46781585.html#storylink=cpy

Hey, Heritage Foundation, No Problem, As Long As You Treat Me Like Other Businesses

     The Heritage Foundation, a right wing advocacy group, has released an Issue Brief calling for an end to withholding of fees for representation of Social Security disability claimants. Here's an excerpt:

... Direct payment for SSDI [Social Security Disability Insurance] representatives establishes a dangerous standard. If increased access or guaranteed payment is sufficient reason for the government to intervene in private transactions, what will prevent all sorts of additional intrusions by the federal government into individuals’ lives? Should the government also provide direct payment to apartment building owners, car dealerships, and colleges?...

The fact that many service providers find it difficult to collect payment from their clients does not mean that the federal government should become the fee collector. State law provides avenues, such as small claims court, for individuals and businesses to obtain their just due.  ...

     I've got no problem with this, Heritage Foundation, as long as you afford me the same "avenue" afforded other businesses in similar situations -- a lien. Take your car to a car dealership to be repaired and the mechanic has a lien -- meaning the mechanic can hold onto your car until you pay for the repairs. Hire a contractor to make repairs on your house and then don't pay the bill -- the contractor has a lien on your house which can be collected with foreclosure if necessary. Finance purchase of a car and stop making payments on the car -- the lender can send out the repo man since the lender has a lien on the car. Hire an attorney to represent you on a personal injury claim after you're injured because some other driver runs a red light and you get a $25,000 settlement -- you can't just take the money and stiff the attorney because the attorney has a lien on the settlement. 

     The Social Security Act forbids most liens on Social Security payments, preventing the lien that an attorney would otherwise have on the back benefits of a client they represent. The law forbidding liens on Social Security benefits has a prominent exception for federal student loans so, yes, a lender associated with a college can get direct payment from Social Security. There's also an exception for debts owed the federal government and for child support. Want to end those exceptions while you're at it, Heritage?

     Liens are an essential part of our legal system and our whole economy. They date back centuries. They're part of our legal heritage. Without liens much of our modern economy would become impossible. While the Heritage agenda often has an anarchist flavor, I doubt that they want to abolish liens.

     If the anti-assignment provision in the Social Security Act had an exception allowing a lien on back Social Security benefits for claimants represented by an attorney, I've got no problem with doing away with the current attorney fee structure at Social Security. 

     How would an attorney lien on back Social Security benefits work? Social Security would issue a joint check for the back benefits made out to the attorney and client. They would each endorse the check and the attorney would be able to take out his or her part and pay the rest to the client. That's the way it works with personal injury settlements. It works that way because the attorney has a lien on the settlement. Why shouldn't attorneys who represent Social Security claimants have the same legal rights as other attorneys and other businesses generally?
     By the way, take a look at the chart that Heritage included in their piece. It looks like the business of representing Social Security claimants hasn't been too profitable lately anyway.
     Also, by the way, it's past time to adjust the cap on fees under the fee agreement process. It's now $6,000 but should be more than $7,000 if adjusted for inflation. Social Security can slowly achieve Heritage's goal of choking off attorney representation of claimants by leaving the cap at $6,000 indefinitely. In fact, it appears that's what's happening. It's time to lift the cap. The law is intended to allow claimants to have access to representation. Implement the law's intention.

Taking Bribes To Speed Up Adjudication Of Social Security Disability Claims

     From the Sun Sentinel, one of many newspapers that hides where it's located:

A former claims representative for the Social Security Administration who took money to speed up the benefits process for selected clients was sentenced to four months in jail followed by four months of house arrest Wednesday.

Maria Sanchez, 50, of Pembroke Pines [apparently a town in Florida], was immediately taken into federal custody. She admitted earlier this year that she received between $13,000 and $15,000 in illegal payments in exchange for moving people to the top of the benefits list.

About every three weeks between 2008 and early 2011, when she decided to stop, Sanchez received a green folder that contained five or six Social Security benefits applications and a white envelope that usually contained $500 in $100 bills. The folders were dropped off at Sanchez's office or during meetings in a Hollywood parking lot, investigators said.

Federal prosecutors said Sanchez took money and gave preferential treatment to speed up the application process for clients of Irma Davidian, 52, of Boca Raton. ...

Davidian was the director of American Advisory Associates, a Boca Raton company that advertised it could help applicants obtain government benefits. Davidian has admitted she recruited clients by running ads in a Russian-language newspaper and they paid her to help them apply for assistance. She is scheduled to be sentenced next month. ...

Though Sanchez did not personally approve the benefits and prosecutors said nobody she helped received any benefit they were not entitled to, Sanchez unfairly moved them to the top of the waiting list and moved other people to the bottom.

     It's hard to tell from the article but it looks like Ms. Sanchez was maintaining her "business" on the side while employed at a Social Security field office.

Hearing Delays Cause Suffering

     From the Associated Press:

Diabetes, arthritis and open-heart surgery have kept Sherice Bennett from working, but she can't afford her medicine and became homeless while waiting for more than two years for a chance to convince a judge that she qualifies for federal disability benefits.

Maria Ruiz also is waiting to appeal her denial; meanwhile, she's been in and out of psychiatric wards since being diagnosed as bipolar, and hasn't been able to buy her meds since August.

Still others die waiting. One man had already been dead for two months this summer before his request for a hearing reached the desk of Miami Judge Thomas Snook. He ultimately approved the claim and the man's spouse will collect his benefits.

 Overburdened administrative judges are working through huge caseloads of these appeals all over America, but Miami has the country's longest average wait for a hearing, at 22 months. And while they wait, many slip into poverty, burdening their families and dragging down the economy. ...

Delays in other cities are nearly as bad: Brooklyn, New York; Spokane, Washington; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Fort Myers, Florida, have 20-month waits. Atlanta, Charlotte, North Carolina, Cincinnati, Baltimore and Chattanooga, Tennessee, are close behind with 19 months. The shortest wait time is eight months in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The national average is about one year and four months, according to the Social Security Administration, and petitioners typically wait another four to five months for a decision after the hearing. ...

The agency's current goal is to reduce the wait to 270 days or less by 2020. A pre-hearing triage program has begun, and the hiring of 400 more judges is planned by 2018.

Poor Education And High Rates Of Disability Go Hand In Hand